WTTW
— UIC Students Hold Protest During Trump Inauguration – Evan Garcia (DIERSEN: UIC accepted me in 1966 when I was 18 years old. If I was 18 years old today, I doubt that UIC would accept me. From what I see, ever-increasingly, UIC is anti-Protestant, anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-rich people, anti-gun owners, anti-German Americans, anti-draft avoiders, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors.)http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/01/20/uic-students-hold-protest-during-trump-inauguration

NUMBERS USA
— TRUMP INAUGURAL PLEDGE: IMMIGRATION POLICY WILL ‘BENEFIT AMERICAN WORKERS & AMERICAN FAMILIES’ – Roy Beck (DIERSEN: My critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that all the jobs that I had were bad jobs, but at the same time, they hinted/implied/argued/shouted that the jobs that I had should have been given to minorities, to women, to younger people, and to veterans instead of me.)https://www.numbersusa.com/blog/trump-inaugural-pledges-immigration-policy-serve-american-workers

NATIONAL REVIEW
— Can America’s Divides Be Healed? – DAVID FRENCH (DIERSEN: My critics/opponents, they operatives, and their dupes focus on divides. They pit individuals, organizations, companies, governments, and countries that are anti-Protestant, anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-rich people, anti-gun owners, anti-German Americans, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors AGAINST THOSE THAT ARE Protestant, conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, rich, gun owners, German American, and/or those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors. Should I write a book about the leading dividers in Wheaton, in Glen Ellyn, in Milton Township, in DuPage County, and in Illinois?)http://www.nationalreview.com/article/444064/donald-trump-political-polarization-challenging-problem

CNN
— Trump becomes 45th President of the United States – Stephen Collinsonhttp://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/donald-trump-inauguration-highlights/index.html— Inaugural address: Trump’s full speechhttp://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/trump-inaugural-address/index.html— Here’s how much Obama’s pension is worth – Chris Isidore (DIERSEN: On September 30, 1997, 49-year old David John Diersen succumbed to threats from his Democrat GAO superiors and became a federal retiree. In today’s dollars, a) my Civil Service Retirement System pension is $50,720 and b) my federal health, dental, and vision insurance subsidy for my wife and I is $16,854. My critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes continue to be furious about that. In my defense, I worked for the federal government for almost 30 years. In addition, I earned a) a job-related bachelor’s degree when I was 21 and job-related master’s degrees when I was 27, 31, and 48, b) job-related professional certifications when I was 30, 32, 41, 45, 47, and 48, and c) a job-related professional license when I was 33.)http://www.nbc-2.com/story/34308844/heres-how-much-obamas-pension-is-worth
(FROM THE ARTICLE: At noon on Friday, 55-year old Barack Obama became a federal retiree. His pension payment will be $207,800 for the upcoming year, about half of his presidential salary. Obama and every other former president also get seven months of “transition” services to help adjust to post-presidential life. The ex-Commander in Chief also gets lifetime Secret Service protection as well as allowances for things such as travel, office expenses, communications and health care coverage. All those extra expenses can really add up. In 2015 they ranged from a bit over $200,000 for Jimmy Carter to $800,000 for George W. Bush, according to a government report. Carter doesn’t get health insurance because you have to work for the federal government for five years to qualify. The pensions and other benefits were first created in 1958, when former President Harry Truman was experiencing financial trouble. The annual payments are currently the same as what cabinet secretaries earn in a given year, and those salaries are set by Congress. But the days of this kind of taxpayer support for ex-presidents may be numbered. Last year, the Republican Congress passed a bill that would have set a flat $200,000 a year in pension payments and capped other expenses at $200,000 a year per president. The cost of living increases for the pension would be tied to the same formula used to increase social security benefits. But that $400,000 could quickly disappear under the proposed law, which cuts the pension and expense payments by a dollar for every dollar that a former president earns above $400,000. So taxpayers are off the hook entirely once a president earns $800,000 a year. Given that most former presidents can earn significant incomes from speeches and writing books, it’s very possible that the taxpayer support of former executives could become a thing of the past. But Obama vetoed the legislation, telling Congress that he did so because the bill also would have terminated the salaries and benefits of former presidents’ staff, and made it harder for the Secret Service to protect former presidents. “If the Congress returns the bill having appropriately addressed these concerns, I will sign it,” he said. But the legislation never got back to his desk. The president’s salary is $400,000, but during the campaign President Trump said he would decline the pay.)

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Donald Trump’s Inauguration: Live Analysis Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the U.S.http://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/donald-trump-inauguration?mod=djemalertNEWS— Some Protests in Washington Violent Ahead of Trump Swearing-In Others were peaceful as they tried to shut down several entrances to the National Mall – BEN KESLING, BYRON TAU and DEVLIN BARRETThttp://www.wsj.com/articles/some-protests-in-washington-violent-ahead-of-trump-wearing-in-1484932391— In Retirement, It’s Save Now or Pay (a Lot) Later Strategies to motivate yourself to save more sooner, drawing on the latest behavioral research – ANNE TERGESENhttp://www.wsj.com/articles/in-retirement-its-save-now-or-pay-a-lot-later-1484908217
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Given a choice between satisfying our immediate needs and desires or focusing on the future, the here and now typically wins out. That impulse doesn’t bode well for retirement savings. The psychological tendency to prioritize the present over the future has troubling implications, especially in an era in which Social Security is underfunded and old-fashioned pension plans are falling by the wayside, leaving individuals increasingly responsible for creating their own retirement security. “Time, resources and attention are limited,” says Neil Lewis Jr., a Ph.D. candidate in social psychology at the University of Michigan and co-author of a recent study that examined ways to counteract the impulse to spend now instead of saving for retirement. “People allocate them to events that are pressing, rather than to events that may happen later.” . . . The bad news: The savings crisis is deepening as 52% of American households are at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement, up from 45% in 2004, according to Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research. The center calculates a cumulative retirement savings shortfall of $6.4 trillion.)

LAW 360
— GAO Says It Saved $63B For Gov’t In 2016 – Daniel Wilson (DIERSEN: After working for IRS for almost 9 years, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 levels, currently $79,563-$90,173, I transferred to GAO in 1980. GAO audits IRS. The Democrats who ran GAO wasted my knowledge of IRS, wasted my career, and forced me to retire in 1997 when I was 49 years old.)https://www.law360.com/tax/articles/883194/gao-says-it-saved-63b-for-gov-t-in-2016
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Wednesday said it had helped save the federal government more than $63 billion in fiscal 2016, pointing to efforts such as helping to stem improper Medicare payments, cut procurement costs, and streamline tax collection. The efforts of the GAO’s nearly 3,000 employees collectively generated $63.4 billion in benefits for the federal government in FY2016, returning $112 for each dollar of its $555.3 million budget, the watchdog said in its annual report to Congress.)

Author: David Diersen

The opinions that I express in GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails are based on experience that I have gained doing many things since 1948. I base my opinions on what I learned a) working for the federal government for almost 30 years -- Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Government Accountants Chicago Chapter 1983-1996, and being a union member while I worked for the Post Office and IRS; b) earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a masters degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a masters degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997; c) passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981; c) serving as a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999, the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois Chairman 2005-2012, a member of the 2008 Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Platform and Resolutions Committee, a Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee member 2003-2011, the Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, and an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member 2001-2004; d) attending the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 IRP State Conventions as a delegate; e) being the subject of a nasty 4-page article in the February 1978 issue of Money Magazine; f) pursing litigation including Diersen v. GAO and Diersen v. Chicago Car Exchange; g) being married since 1978; h) living in Crete 1948-1972, in University Park 1972-1976, in Chicago 1976-1978, and in DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 1978; and i) being baptized, raised, and confirmed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran.
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